What should have been a purely celebratory moment for the DFW Curling Club turned into a nightmare when thieves broke into its brand-new Irving facility on the very night members gathered to mark its long-awaited grand opening.
The club had just unveiled its 30,000-square-foot space on Sunday following years of fundraising and months of hands-on preparation by volunteers and members. Just 30 minutes after the last person locked up and left for the night, surveillance cameras caught an intruder on the building’s porch.
A member arrived Monday morning to find the facility in disarray. Food had been thrown around, papers and gloves were scattered across the floor, and doors throughout the building had been left wide open.
Surveillance footage showed a man moving through the facility for several hours while wearing merchandise stolen from the club’s own pro shop. A second individual eventually joined him during the break-in.
Club President Brigitte Minucci said the thieves made off with an estimated $20,000 worth of property. The bulk of that figure represents power tools that members personally owned and had used to prepare the facility for its opening.
Electronics including an iPad, speakers, and a computer were also taken. The intruders additionally damaged a national curling trophy belonging to the club. “This is our USA National Curling trophy and they broke it” Minucci said.
The theft hit especially hard given the nature of the organization. The DFW Curling Club is a nonprofit that depends entirely on member funding and spent years working to secure its own dedicated space.
Minucci described the emotional gut punch of celebrating a major milestone one evening only to walk into devastation the following morning. “I joked today, I said we cried when we got on the ice, and then apparently we cried the next day, too” she said.
Irving police are currently investigating the break-in. Minucci said she is hopeful that physical evidence left at the scene, including smudged handprints on a door the thieves forced open, will help detectives identify those responsible.
Her most pressing concern is recovering the stolen tools so that members can continue their ongoing work inside the facility. “We need to keep moving forward and right now we can’t” Minucci said.
Anyone with information about the break-in is encouraged to contact the Irving Police Department.